


The Goddess Returns to Her Tower

by Skeletor42



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Goddess Tower (Fire Emblem), Love/Hate, Pining, Romance, Surprise Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:47:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29209107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skeletor42/pseuds/Skeletor42
Summary: The night of the ball proved to be exhausting for Byleth. Desperate to be alone, she escaped to the Goddess Tower, but someone else was already there.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Hubert von Vestra
Kudos: 60





	The Goddess Returns to Her Tower

Hand after hand offered to dance with Byleth. They whirled her about the floor, some more delicately than others. To say she knew who had proper training and who didn’t was an understatement. She was certain she’d have matching bruises on her feet as souvenirs of the night.

Each time she found an opportunity to slip away to the refreshments and chat with Manuela, another student would find her and ask for a dance. Each time Manuela’s frown would deepen as she watched Byleth get swooped away. So many students, so many faces, and so many claims they hadn’t gotten a dance with her yet. Claims she couldn’t refute because they all began to meld together. Well, all but Sylvain’s who was happy to ask for another at any opportunity. He even went so far as to tapping Dimitri on the shoulder to cut in and claimed the prince could thank him later.

Byleth knew her only chance of recusing herself would be to escape out into the chilly night. An option that sounded more and more tempting as the sweet smells and heat of the room made her increasingly dizzy. She parted from Ignatz at the end of a song and saw Ferdinand beeline towards her. _Now or never_ , she thought as she slipped between a group of girls eager to fawn over the noble and distract him.

The night’s air wrapped her in its welcoming embrace when she made it out the open doors. Students mingled throughout the courtyard. Some looked cozier than others, sights that would surely make Seteth fume. She didn’t mind though. True, Rhea and Seteth assigned her for what amounted to glorified chaperon duty, but after the year they had so far, the students deserved a carefree night.

Instead, she walked the path towards the classrooms, head down so no one would spot her. The crowds thinned the further away she got. Until there were just scattered couples hidden in the nooks of the grounds. She glanced into the Black Eagles’ class, the room she spent more time in than any other. A lone Linhardt dozed at a desk, candlelight danced across his face casting it in ever moving shadows.

She kept moving north, to the cathedral. She thought there would surely be no one there, and she was right too, except for Hanneman. He leaned against the ledge of the bridge with his face down in a book. He stopped her, mostly to complain about how he couldn’t watch Manuela drink anymore, but his mood must’ve been good because he let her pass with only a few minutes of chatter.

Finally, she found her solitude. She dragged her finger along the stone walls of the cathedral, going around rather than in. The cool, peaceful breeze reminded her of the life she once had. Few could understand missing isolation, but something about the silence always resonated with her.

Then she saw the Goddess Tower. Its tall spire pierced the night’s sky and called to her. The gatekeeper mentioned earlier that month that tonight would be one of the few occasions they allowed access to it, and her curiosity piqued. Despite the risk of others having the same idea, she ventured forth. The risk of being found and dragged back to the ball seemed little in the silence. 

She ducked her head in and looked before entering, just to be safe, then stepped in. A staircase spiraled along the curved walls of the tower. She glanced upwards, there were no floors, but the one she was on, only a roof overhead. The room itself had an ornate rug covering the floor with a small altar in the center. She approached the altar and traced over the stone statue that rested on it.

 _So, this is the Goddess they prayed to during the rebirth_ , she thought to herself. _She doesn’t seem all that impressive._ They were thoughts that earned her an earful from Sothis who had convinced herself that somehow she and the Goddess were the same.

The great mysteries of the tower no longer seemed all that interesting to her now that she was inside. She climbed the stairs instead of lingering. Seteth mentioned the balcony at the top was the highest point at the monastery, outside of Rhea’s chambers, and she could count on one hand who was allowed there.

The doors hung open to the balcony. The view immediately invited her to the edge. A forest stretched out as far as the eye could see. In a few spots in the distance, smoke plumes hovered in the air, a sign of life outside the walls of the academy. She thought about the mountains of Faerghus, hidden by the distance. She lost herself in the memories of places she had once visited when she heard a small cough from behind.

“Excuse me, professor,” Hubert said when she turned to find its source. He wore all black, except a white, collared shirt that stuck out from his jacket. The recommendation for the students to wear their traditional formal uniforms was seemingly ignored by him. Another thing Seteth would frown at if he saw. “Here for a tryst? I’ll excuse myself then.”

“No,” she answered evenly. She knew the man would love to catch her meeting someone, a foolish lover he could threaten her with. Hubert craved anything that could give him power over her. The entire year he sought her weaknesses, but the only one she had was Jeralt and Jeralt proved to be an equally formidable foe for him.

“Nonsense,” he said. His voice exaggerated the last syllable of the word. He knew just how to speak to make people uneasy. Tricks that had worked countless times, but the woman in front of him seemed immune. “Those countless students throwing themselves at you at the ball and not one managed to arrange a meeting with you here? You do know about the rumors, don’t you?”

“No. What rumors?” she asked. 

If she was lying, she didn’t give any indication. Every interaction left Hubert almost titillated at the idea of such a worthy enemy. He’d take more joy in destroying her when the time came than anyone else. It was almost a shame really, knowing their time would end soon enough. “They say if a pair makes a wish to the Goddess on this very night, she is sure to grant it. So who will you be making your wish with? You and Sylvain seemed awfully chummy, or did you have your eyes set on a bigger prize? A future duke or, maybe even a prince?”

“You.” It wasn’t a statement, but a demand. One that left Hubert to take an unconscious step back. “What will we wish for? Glory for Edelgard, or were you thinking something a bit more personal?” she asked, taking a step to fill the space between them.

Hubert straightened at her indignation. No one could want a wish from the Goddess less than him. The very thought of him begging to her caused his blood to boil. “I think you have me mistaken for someone else. Unlike the rest of the people here, I don’t need to rely on someone doing the dirty work for me.” She took another step closer, but he was resolved to not move, to not give her the satisfaction of giving in. She may have been able to toy with the other students, but this was his game.

“You know, I may have a wish. Just one.” She stared up at him with big round eyes. 

_Had they always been that shade of blue, the shade of the sea during a storm?_ Hubert questioned himself before he could realize the implications of the thought. She took another step, closing the remaining space between them. So close now, that Hubert felt the heat radiate off her body. For the first time, he could smell her, the scent of some flower. Was it lavender, he mused. There was time he’d almost consider them his favorite. _Not now though_ , he reminded himself. “I could kill you with any number of poisons and no one would be the wiser. You'd do well to remember that, Byleth.” He accentuated every part of her name to let her know he meant all disrespect.

The venom behind his words only motivated her. She lifted her hand, not breaking contact with his slitted eyes, and delicately wrapped her fingers around the collar of his jacket. She pulled at it, slow and forceful, her reminder to him that she was not a weak damsel. Until he had no choice but to bow his head down to hers. “I know exactly who I’m here with,” she breathed into his ear, lips dancing on his skin with each new word.

He let out a long, unsteady breath that threatened to turn into a moan. Her grip around his collar tightened at the sound. He knew he was but a mouse caught in her trap, but he couldn’t resist. The anticipation of the night made him almost delirious, drunk on the smell of what he was sure was lavender now. That delicate, sweet scent clung to every strand of her hair that grazed his face.

She shifted back, a space that filled him with unknown longing. A spectral weight threatened to crush his chest as he looked at her and her playful smile that hid in the corner of her lips. She pulled him into her, those mischievous lips finding his frantic ones. His hands grabbed at her desperately, one wrapped around her back, pressing her closer to him, the other tangled in her wonderful smelling hair. Hubert couldn’t say how long they stayed like that, how long she let his lips indulge in hers, but he knew it wasn’t enough when she pushed him away.

“I think I know what you wished for,” she said. She turned her back to him, satisfied with his lack of words. For someone who praised himself for being clever, he proved easy to fool. She raised a hand, fingers curled slowly in a languorous wave as she slipped away through the tower’s doors.

 _It seems we’ve found ourselves a new game to play_ , Hubert thought. The night did take an unexpected turn, but the challenge his professor promised thrilled him. His lips curled into a smile as he contemplated his next move. A challenge indeed.


End file.
